POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
291 
otlier party were equally vociferous in reciting the 
achievements of the vanquished^ or predicting the 
shortness of his rival’s triumph. 
However great the clamour might be, as soon as the 
wrestlers who remained in the ring engaged again, the 
drums ceased, the song was discontinued, and the 
dancers sat down. All was perfectly silent, and the 
issue of the second struggle was awaited with as great an 
intensity of interest as the first. If the vanquished 
man had a friend or taio in the ring, he usually arose, 
and challenged the victor, who having gained one 
triumph, either left the ring, which it was considered 
honourable for him to do, or remained and awaited a 
fresh challenge. If he had retired, two fresh com¬ 
batants engaged, and when one was thrown, exhibitions 
of feeling, corresponding with those that had attended 
and concluded the first struggle, were renewed, and fol¬ 
lowed every successive engagement. When the con¬ 
test was over, the men repaired again to the temple, 
and presented their offering of acknowledgmeiit, usually 
young plantain trees, to the idols of the game. 
There are a number of men still living, who, under 
the system of idolatry, were celebrated as wrestlers 
through the whole of the islands. Among these, Feriua- 
peho, the hardy chieftain of Tahaa, is perhaps the 
most distinguished. He is not a large man, but broad, 
strong, sinewy, and remarkably firm^buiM: In person 
he appears to have beeen adapted to excel in such 
kinds of savage sports. 
Although wrestling was practised principally by the 
men, it was not confined to them. Often, when they 
had done, the women contended, sometimes with each 
other, and occasionally with men, who were not per- 
